Following delays, the restoration of the Santa Fe train station is once again moving forward.

The Kansas Department of Transportation received no bids for the restoration of the 1950s-era train depot the first time around, requiring technical modifications to the project before it was re-bid last month. KDOT is now ready to award the project to a contractor. As part of its consent agenda Tuesday, the City Commission authorized KDOT to award the bid to First Construction of Lawrence in the amount of about $1.8 million.

Including about $240,000 for engineering for the project, the total cost comes to about $2 million. Eighty percent of the project’s cost will be paid for by a KDOT grant, and the commission also authorized the city to commit $409,000 for its portion.